Rockefeller retirement sets off a scramble for power

With a backdrop of old photographs U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller formally announced at the Culture Center Great Hall in Charleston, WV that he will not run again for office. Charleston Daily Mail/Craig Cunningham 01/11/13

For 25 years, West Virginia had the same two Democratic U.S. senators, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, who put a glass ceiling on other politicians’ rise to power.

Byrd died in 2010 and Rockefeller, 75, announced Friday he would not seek a fifth term in 2014.

Now, as they did when Byrd died, Democrats and Republicans across the state are eyeing the political ladder to Washington.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced last month she would run for the Senate with or without Rockefeller on the ballot.

With Rockefeller out, Democrats are floating their names, working the phones and figuring out what it will take to challenge the formidable Capito.

“Everybody I know thinks Shelley Capito is well positioned and well liked, and she is working hard and she has an infrastructure in place and she is clearly the frontrunner,” said state Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts, who has been at odds with Rockefeller.

Nobody has declared their intentions firmly, but numerous names were mentioned and traditional Democratic Party factions were beginning their hunt for a contender.

There is some effort to make sure the new senator is a reliable vote on traditional Democratic issues. Rockefeller’s colleague, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is perhaps not that reliable vote.

In 2009-2010, Rockefeller fought hard for the health care reform law, while Manchin, then governor, danced around the issue.

“I know it’s not particularly popular in West Virginia, but, frankly that’s OK,” Rockefeller said during his announcement Friday at the state Culture Center in Charleston.

Elaine Harris, an international representative for the Communications Workers of America, was one of few in the West Virginia political world to get advanced notice Thursday night that Rockefeller would retire. She said the senator did not waver on issues important to unions.

“Without hesitation, he’s been there fighting the tough fights and when he’s up for the right thing, he will fight,” Harris said.

Possible candidates to replace Rockefeller include current Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. A spokesman said the congressman is considering a Senate run. If Rahall goes for the Senate seat, he would put a Democratic-controlled House seat in play. Rahall’s 2012 challenger, Rick Snuffer, and a new state senator from the area, Bill Cole, are Republicans said to be thinking about running for that House seat, with or without Rahall in the race.

Former U.S. Sen. Carte Goodwin said Friday he was drawn to public service and flattered that his name was being discussed. Goodwin filled four months of Byrd’s unexpired term in 2010 before the state held an election to send Manchin to the Senate.

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said she is considering a Senate campaign.

“I will seriously look at it,” she said. “I haven’t ruled anything in and anything out.”

Tennant’s husband, state Sen. Erik Wells, has previously said he might run for Capito’s current House seat. Tennant has also expressed recent interest in running again for governor in 2016. In 2011, she lost a special Democratic primary for governor.

Other floating names include state Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis, a Democrat who was just elected to another 12-year term on the court. She would have to resign her seat on the bench if she decided to run for Senate because of judicial ethics.

Former state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Callaghan said last month he would consider running for Rockefeller’s seat or Capito’s House seat.

Some Democrats are talking about former Gov. Gaston Caperton making a Senate run as well. He recently moved back to the state, but said in December he was not interested in Capito’s House seat. He did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

While Capito is considered a front-runner, Democrats do not believe she is unbeatable. First elected in 2000, Capito fought some expensive races early in her career but faced only token opposition from Democrats in 2010 and 2012.

The Democrats in those races, who had very little money, were likely unable to pay for opposition research that most campaigns typically use to attack the other side and both Democrats were certainly unable to buy a significant amount of advertising.

Because of that, Democrats believe there may be a path not taken against Capito: highlighting her votes in the House that Democrats believe can be made unpopular in West Virginia. Some of those votes had not happened in her early races.

“It’s not going to be easy for her at all,” said former state Democratic Party Chairman Pat Maroney. “She is going to have to explain her position on issues.”

Maroney said some votes in the Republican House would not play well with seniors or single mothers.

Republicans have argued West Virginia is trending Republican. The state House now has 46 Republicans, the most since the Great Depression, for instance. But Democrats still point to their majorities in the state House and Senate — as well as their majorities on the Supreme Court and among the other statewide offices, including that of the governor — as signs the Republican wave is not overtaking the beach.